04 March 2008

Mr. Janusz Zaleski, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of the Environment, attended Conference of environment ministers from EU and Latin America and Caribbean (UE-LAC) countries held in Brussels on 4 March 2008.

Climate change adaptation, renewable energy, biodiversity loss and deforestation were at the top of the agenda of this first meeting between EU and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) environment ministers. These issues are especially significant given their importance for the economic well-being of EU and Latin American and Caribbean countries. The issues raised at the meeting will provide the basis for the EU-LAC Heads of State and Government Summit in Lima this May. More than two dozen ministers from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean attended. The representatives of the EU Member States presented their experience on and the opportunities to provide assistance to the Latin American and Caribbean countries, whereas the LAC countries presented information on their activities being undertaken in the field of biodiversity protection, combating climate change and application of cleaner technologies. Setting out the recommendations concerning the Lima Declaration was also the aim of the UE-LAC Conference, since signature of such Declaration is proposed during the 5th Summit of the Heads of States and Governments of the Latin America and Caribbean and the European Union countries to be held in Lima in this May. 

In course of discussion on deforestation and biodiversity, Mr. Janusz Zaleski, Under-Secretary of State, emphasised the role of forests in climate protection, principally in the field of carbon dioxide sink. He also provided information on the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP-14) to the UN Framework Climate Convention (UNFCCC), serving as the 4th Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP-4), to be held in Poznan in this December – that is the greatest ever conference to be held in Poland’s history and conveyed invitation to participate to this event.

The Conference was the first ever meeting of environment ministers from EU and Latin America and Caribbean as organised by the Slovenian Presidency and the European Commission in cooperation with the Peruvian Presidency of the LAC countries.

 

The 5th Summit of the Heads of State and Governments of the Latin America and Caribbean EU and European Union countries to be held in Lima was preceded by their Summits held in Rio de Janeiro (28-29 June 1999), in Madrid (17-18 May 2002), in Guadalajara (28-29 May 2004) and in Vienna (12 13 May 2006).